Adolescent cognition and procedural justice: Broadening the impact of research findings on policy and practice

Research on adolescent social cognition has had an enormous impact on how the justice system conceptualizes adolescent legal responsibility and deals with adolescents who commit crimes. Such research also has broader implications for adolescent legal socialization, which have been largely underdeveloped. A renewed effort to connect psychological research with legal policy must expand beyond these beginnings to focus on all adolescents and their engagement in broader social institutions. Specifically, a consideration of the unique capacities for growth and development during the adolescent years should be leveraged toward fostering positive outcomes like community identity, academic and social achievement, and the development of an orientation toward law based upon legitimacy and trust. Studies suggest that a key component of positive socialization is dealing with authorities one experiences as procedurally just. Researchers focused on issues of juvenile justice should also expand their focus to consider how the social climate in institutions such as schools can be designed to take advantage of the unique capacities adolescents have for exploring identity and connecting with peers in developing their orientation to the law and legal authorities.     

How the threat of losses makes people <Emphasis Type="Italic">explore</Emphasis> more than the promise of gains

Until recently, loss aversion has been inferred exclusively from choice asymmetries in the loss and gain domains. This study examines the impact of the prospect of losses on exploratory search in a situation in which exploration is costly. Taking advantage of the largest available data set of decisions from experience, analyses showed that most people explore payoff distributions more under the threat of a loss than under the promise of a gain. This behavioral regularity thus occurs in both costly search and cost-free search (see Lejarraga, Hertwig, & Gonzalez, Cognition, 124, 334–342, 2012). Furthermore, a model comparison identified the simple win-stay-lose-shift heuristic as a likely candidate mechanism behind the loss–gain exploration asymmetry observed. In contrast, models assuming loss aversion failed to reproduce the asymmetry. Moreover, the asymmetry was not simply a precursor of loss aversion but a phenomenon separate from it. These findings are consistent with the recently proposed notion of intensified vigilance in the face of potential losses.     

A comparison of computer‐assisted and therapist‐led instruction for children with autism spectrum disorder

The current investigation applied a model of assessment‐based instruction to an evaluation of the efficacy and efficiency of computer‐assisted and therapist‐led instruction on skill acquisition for 3 participants with autism spectrum disorder. We also evaluated the participant's attending during instruction and the social validity of each format of instruction. The results showed that computer‐assisted instruction was most efficient for 2 of the 3 participants, although attending varied across instructional formats. In addition, the social validity of instructional formats varied across participants.     

No evidence for self-recognition in a small passerine,the great tit (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Parus major</Emphasis>) judged from the mark/mirror test

Self-recognition is a trait presumed to be associated with high levels of cognition and something previously considered to be exclusive to humans and possibly apes. The most common test of self-recognition is the mark/mirror test of whether an animal can understand that it sees its own reflection in a mirror. The usual design is that an animal is marked with a colour spot somewhere on the body where the spot can only be seen by the animal by using a mirror. Very few species have passed this test, and among birds, only magpies have been affirmatively demonstrated to pass it. In this study, we tested great tits (Parus major), small passerines, that are known for their innovative foraging skills and good problem-solving abilities, in the mirror self-recognition test. We found no indication that they have any ability of this kind and believe that they are unlikely to be capable of this type of self-recognition.     

Altruism and Ambition in the Dynamic Moral Life

Some people are such impressive altruists that they seem to us to already be doing more than enough. And yet they see themselves as compelled to do even more. Can our view be reconciled with theirs? Can a moderate view of beneficence's demands be made consistent with a requirement to be ambitiously altruistic? I argue that a reconciliation is possible if we adopt a dynamic view of beneficence, which addresses the pattern that our altruism is required to take over time. This frees up theoretical space for understanding how a moral duty of self-development can intersect with the requirements of beneficence, so that the amount that we are required to sacrifice increases without our beneficence becoming immoderate.     

Practice of Nursing Care Provided to Clients from Muslim Countries in the Czech Republic

Authors deal with practice of nursing care provided to Muslim clients in the Czech Republic. They use the explorative research design. By means of analyses of 21 semi-structured interviews with important social actors in the area of health care (spa resorts and hospitals). The study shows that Muslims are not homogeneous in their behaviour in the field of health care. In the spa environment, three interpretation perspectives can be found: the economic interpretation of a Muslim as the source of income of the Czech spa industry, which faces economic problems, the cultural interpretation developed within the spas (the experience capital of the staff and other clients), and the (a) cultural interpretation of Muslims and Islam brought to spas from the outside (the public opinion). However, in the area of hospitals, Muslims are not separated from the remaining categories of students; Muslim patients represent a small group of persons, and their treatment being conditioned by the distance or closeness of cultures, language skills, adaptation, and experiences with treatment in the Czech environment as perceived by the staff.     

When criticism is ineffective: The case of historical trauma and unsupportive allies

Three studies examined the effect of historical trauma reminders and criticism from international allies on attitudes toward current conflicts. In Study 1, Israeli participants (N = 116) were primed with the Holocaust, and read either that the U.S. President Obama supports Israel's right to defend itself and attack Iran, or that he opposes such action. Then, support for preemptive violence was assessed. Study 2 (N = 133) replicated this design, comparing inclusive and exclusive framings of the Holocaust. Study 3 (N = 478), examined the effect of Holocaust reminders and criticism from the European Union on attitudes toward militant policies against Palestinians. All three studies found that Holocaust primes juxtaposed with international criticism increased support for aggression, especially under exclusive framings of the Holocaust. Study 3, however, found this effect only among left‐wing participants. These findings indicate that when historical trauma is salient, international criticism may be ineffective and may even backfire.